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BrainAndButter
Amos Yee Pang Sang (born ), better known online as BrainAndButtler, is a Singaporean YouTuber, blogger and former child actor. In late March 2015, shortly after the death of the first Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, Yee uploaded a video on YouTube criticising Lee. In the video Yee compared Lee to Jesus, and cast both in an unfavorable light. Yee also uploaded to his blog an image depicting Lee and Margaret Thatcher engaged in anal sex. Yee was arrested and charged with "intention of wounding the religious feelings of Christians", obscenity, and "threatening, abusive or insulting communication." The first two charges fall under the Singapore Penal Code. The third charge, which was later withdrawn, was a response to the video's criticism of Lee and falls under the Protection from Harassment Act (POHA). Background Amos was born in Singapore, the only child of Alphonsus Yee, a computer engineer, and Mary Toh Ai Buay, a mathematics teacher. Yee was raised in Singapore as part of an ethnically Chinese family. Yee studied at Pei Chun Public School, where he took the Primary School Leaving Examination, and obtained a score of 244, with A* for Mathematics and Science, and A for English and Chinese. He then attended Zhonghua Secondary School, where he completed the O Levels and decided not to continue with post-secondary school education, despite good results. In 2015, The Straits Times described him as "a school leaver who blogged that he intended to pursue a career in film and YouTube videos". Yee, who was raised Catholic, considered himself practising until mid-2013, where he was "kicked out" from service as an altar boy after swearing during a meeting. He describes having been asked to leave the Church after he told a priest about his reservations about Confirmation. Yee questioned the implications of Confirmation and began researching Catholicism and Christianity in general by watching YouTube videos and reading blogs on atheism, and has since become an atheist. Trivia *Yee identifies himself as a feminist. *He practices taekwondo *He has been using social media from the age of eight *He is a promoter for pedophilia and publicity defends pedophiles on the internet. 2011–2015: Child acting and prior videos In March 2011, Yee won awards for Best Short Film and Best Actor at The New Paper's First Film Fest (FFF) for his film Jan. The New Paper described Yee as having taken on four different acting roles in his "self-written, self-directed film", which was described as a "twisted dark comedy" in which a boy tries to persuade his three friends to help a cancer-stricken girl. Yee, thirteen at the time, was described as having made the film "in his bedroom". The FFF awarded Yee a Sony Handycam NEX-VG10 video camera and Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 video editing software. Following the success of Jan, FFF chief judge Jack Neo offered an internship to Yee, and additionally invited Yee to audition for Neo's film, We Not Naughty, a film about juvenile delinquency. When Yee did so in May 2011, Neo cast Yee in a minor acting role after Yee improvised and improved the language in a script given to him. Yee played a "smart younger brother" to a lead actor's character, and was allowed by Neo to write his own dialogue. Neo also praised Yee as a "natural comedian" with a passion for film-making. Regarding Yee being labelled as arrogant, Neo said that "just because Yee acts arrogant doesn't mean he is ... He is an actor, he's playing a role". Yet, Neo also suggested that Yee needed to learn humility. In January 2012, Yee was widely criticised by for uploading a video to YouTube which – according to My Paper – "called the Chinese New Year a rip-off of the Western New Year's Day". Garnering over 150,000 views, Yee clarified that the video was satirical in nature and that it was his "fake representation" of Chinese New Year. According to The New York Times, prior to his 2015 Lee Kuan Yew video, Yee had uploaded "more than a dozen comedic riffs ... on subjects including Singapore's legal ban on homosexuality, The Hunger Games, Valentine's Day, Boyhood and the decision to drop out of school 'to pursue my "career" as a 17-year-old boy ranting in front of a video camera'." Nathan Heller of The New Yorker also noted in 2015 that Yee had been publishing homemade videos which were "directed equally toward the Singaporean youth and a more international, American-style audience". 2015–present: viral video and criminal proceedings in Singapore Following the death of the first Prime Minister of Singapore of severe pneumonia in hospital,Yee uploaded a nearly nine-minute long video to YouTube titled Lee Kuan Yew is Finally Dead! In the video, Yee likened Lee to Jesus, saying that both were "power-hungry and malicious but deceive others into thinking they are both compassionate and kind. Their impact and legacy will ultimately not last as more and more people find out that they are full of bull". Yee went on to describe Lee's followers as "completely delusional and ignorant" with "absolutely no sound logic or knowledge about him that is grounded in reality", while accusing Christians of a similar lack of knowledge of the Bible's teachings. Apart from conveying his hope that the late Lee would not rest in peace, Yee also said that Lee was a "horrible person", an "awful leader" and "a dictator but managed to fool most of the world to think he was democratic". Lastly, Yee issued a challenge to Lee's son, Lee Hsien Loong, stating that if the younger Lee, the current Prime Minister, wished to sue him, Yee would "oblige to dance with him". The video had over 1 million views in 2015. Before uploading the video, Yee said that he was "slightly apprehensive" that what he was doing might be illegal, and told two friends about it. He also looked up the Sedition Act, and told his mother he was making a video criticizing Mr Lee but did not go into details. She advised him against uploading it but he went ahead anyway. 'Initial reaction' The 2015 video resulted in several violent threats made against Yee online, including rape threats, which led to calls by the Media Literacy Council and the Singapore Kindness Movement urging netizens to act civilly, even when facing views they find offensive. Singaporean actors Gurmit Singh and Quan Yi Fong, who both have teenage children, weighed in on the issue. Singh blaming Yee's parents, saying that they are "supposed to be there to guide the child", while Quan said that in this case, Yee's "parents should have brought him to see a doctor". Today published a piece by Edwin Teong, who felt that Yee's video was one of several "recent cases" involving Singaporean youth which "reflect the recklessness and the lack of self-awareness that can lead to youths making mistakes, which burden not only themselves but also their families". Mikha Chan of Free Malaysia Today characterised Yee as a "wannabe intellectual" and "an opinionated person who talks loud and way too long on the same subject, often sensationalising the subject matter" regarding his video. 'Arrest' Thirty-two police reports were made against Yee's uploading of the 2015 video, while another police report was made against alleged obscene material on Yee's blog, where Yee had displayed and claimed credit for making a caricature "of Lee Kuan Yew engaging in anal sex with former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher". The Straits Times reported that Yee's mother had filed a police report against her son because she was unable to control his behaviour. Yee's mother, Mary Toh, later told The Online Citizen that she had filed a police report on 29 March, "not ... to have my son arrested", but in response to Yee publishing a vulgar image online despite her objections, leading her to fear for his safety. As she assumed that police action would soon be taken against her son, she filed a report in which she apologised to the nation for her son's actions and requested counselling for Yee. This was later reported by Today, which added that on 5 May Yee's mother told the police that she no longer wanted to provide a statement. Yee was arrested on 29 March, on the grounds of "deliberate intention of wounding the religious or racial feelings", "threatening, abusive or insulting communication" and obscenity. His arrest drew international media attention. BBC News reported that "Yee was one of several people who went online to publicly criticise Mr Lee's legacy – others include human rights activists and a prominent poet – but he is the only one to have been arrested". The Guardian wrote that "For some, the lodging of police reports and subsequent arrest of Yee is a sign that the suppression of free speech during Lee's time in power has continued as a part of governance in Singapore." Nathan Heller of The New Yorker wrote that "Yee's arrest doesn't just underscore his complaints about Singapore's backwardness on rights and freedom. It shows the country's dire need for cultural education through intelligent dissent." Ben Mathis-Lilley of Slate said that "details of the situation are ridiculous ... If you watch the YouTube video, it becomes clear that Amos Yee is probably not an armed insurrectionist", while further labelling the Singaporeans who reported Yee to the police as "narcs". The Committee to Protect Journalists organisation, and a petition started by a Christian Singaporean, both called for Yee's release, Abdul Rani Kulup Abdullah, chief of the Martabat Jalinan Muhibbah Malaysia organisation, praised the arrest of Yee, and encouraged Malaysia to follow Singapore's example of implementing strict laws on free speech to prevent "irresponsible statements" or "criticism the government which may not be true but people can get influenced" leading to "anarchy". Charging and remand On 31 March three charges were read out to Yee in the State Courts of Singapore, two of which were related to the 2015 video. The first charge was that Yee's 2015 video violated Section 298 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224, as it "contained remarks against Christianity, with the deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of Christians in general". The second charge was under Section 4 of the Protection from Harassment Act (later withdrawn) was that Yee's 2015 video violated the Protection from Harassment Act 2014 as it "contained remarks about Mr Lee Kuan Yew which was intended to be heard and seen by persons likely to be distressed". The third charge was that Yee had violated Section 292 of the Penal Code, by uploading an obscene image of Lee and Thatcher on 28 March 2015. BBC News reported that "Singapore's hate speech laws are intended to ensure harmony between its multi-ethnic population and prevent a recurrence of 1969 race riots of Singapore." Yee was initially released on bail set at 20,000 Singapore dollars on 31 March 2015 on the condition that he not comment or distribute any content online while the case was still ongoing. Meanwhile, Yee's father, whom Yee describes as being physically abusive, addressed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, saying that he was "very sorry". On 3 April, Yee's mother brought him to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) to see a psychiatrist to understand why he seemed "too daring" and feared nothing, but Yee quit after two sessions. On 14 April Yee flouted his initial bail conditions by asking for public donations to fund his legal fees on both on his blog and Facebook page; the blog post also linked to his controversial 2015 video and image. On 21 April, Yee was bailed out by 51-year-old Vincent Law, a family and youth counsellor and a Christian parent, despite Law having never met Yee before. Three lawyers, Alfred Dodwell, Chong Jia Hao and Ervin Tan, also volunteered to represent him pro bono. On 29 April Yee breached his bail conditions on not uploading content online again by making two blog posts; the first, questioned "the ridiculous terms of his bail", which Yee said "has absolutely nothing to do with my presence in court". In the second, he accused his father of being abusive and violent. On 30 April, the charge against Lee Kuan Yew have been left to be dealt with at a later time, after the previous two charges are addressed. Yee also refused to take down the two blog posts despite being asked to by the District Judge Kessler Soh, as he felt that taking down the posts in question was tantamount to an admission of guilt. Concurrently, the bail amount was raised to $30,000. Meanwhile, Law applied to discharge himself as Yee's bailor. Yee was again taken into remand because of a lack of anyone posting bail. Law also said that he did not regret acting as Yee's bailor, and that from talking to Yee, he had found him to be childlike and lacking in empathy. On 6 May Yee's lawyers appealed for a change in bail amount and bail conditions, arguing that accessing social media was "like drinking water" to Yee, and that the ban on Yee posting online content was "too broad and disproportionate". The prosecution was willing to lower the bail amount and release Yee from having to report daily to a police station if Yee went for psychiatric counselling, but Yee refused. Consequently, the High Court judge decided to maintain Yee's bail conditions. Slapping incident On April 30, 2015, while en route to the state courts for a pre-trial conference, Yee was slapped in the face by 49-year-old Neo Gim Huah who ran away after challenging Yee to sue him. Neo was arrested at 2 am the next day, less than 12 hours after the attack. Neo admitted that he committed the assault as he had taken offence at portions of Yee's video, which he felt were disrespectful to Lee Kuan Yew. He said that he closely monitored the case and had the intention to confront and slap Yee before his first two court appearances as he felt that Yee's actions had put Singapore in a negative light. Neo believed that it would be difficult for the criminal justice system to deal effectively with Yee because of Yee's age, and hence decided to "instill fear" in Yee. Neo admitted that he wanted the assault to be publicised "so that the world at large would know that the victim was being taught a lesson". Neo's attack on Yee was condemned by Minister for Law K. Shanmugam and human rights non-governmental organisation Maruah as ill-befitting of a civilised society. Popular Bookstore was also forced to apologise after their initial poking fun of the attack on Yee drew criticism online. Neo, who said he "lost control" and wanted to "teach Yee a lesson", has since apologised in his statement to Yee and his parents for the assault. Nevertheless, on 11 May Neo was sentenced by District Judge Ronald Gwee to three weeks in jail for voluntarily causing hurt. The prosecution had asked for two weeks' imprisonment. Trial Yee's trial as an adult, which took place on May 7 and May 8, 2015, attracted much public interest, with more than 20 people seen outside Court 7 more than an hour before the hearing was supposed to start, and Yee pleading not guilty to both charges. When Yee was led into the courtroom in handcuffs and leg shackles, several members of the public who were present waved at him, and he smiled at them. The timeline was pushed for by Yee's lawyers so that Yee would not "spend more time in remand than necessary". Yee's parents, former bailor, Vincent Law, blogger Roy Ngerng, as well as social activists Andrew Loh and Teo Soh Lung all attended Yee's trial. Law, who said he never changed his mind about bailing him out, said that he came to support him. The court found Yee guilty on 12 May 2015, and sentenced him to four weeks in jail. Sentencing was backdated to include 53 days served in remand, and hence Yee was freed immediately following the trial. Yee appealed against both the court conviction and sentence on 9 July 2015. Yee's imprisonment drew criticism from human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, which considered Yee to be a prisoner of conscience. The proceedings began with arguments from the defence regarding the obscenity charge. They argued that to determine legally whether or not an image is obscene is whether "it has an effect which is to tend to deprave and corrupt" to any person who is exposed to it, and that the prosecution have not provided any evidence to it. They argued that Amo's charge in Section 292 "is targeted at peddlers and purveyors of pornography", but the prosecution had argued that Yee's comments showed his intention to "corrupt and deprave", and that the image was "not a pornographic image, designed to arouse". In court documents, Yee explained that his intention in critiquing both Christianity and Lee Kuan Yew was to open discussions on what he saw as "problems" with the faith and Singapore. He said that he was aware his critique would offend, but argued that his discussion "was healthy for positive change to take place in future." Yee also explained that while he "was aware that critiquing Christian faith would promote ill-will", he saw this as "a natural consequence", and that "promoting ill-will is a prerogative for positive change to happen in society, especially if the issue at hand were initially controversial." Amongst the court documents was the revelation that Yee knew that the contents of his blogs and videos would be offensive, but went ahead with posting them. Yee's trial drew international attention. The Wall Street Journal writes that Yee's trial showcases "Singapore's struggle to adapt its tradition of censorship to the realities of the digital era." On March 24, 2017, Yee was originally granted asylum in the United States of America by the Chicago court, but the U.S. government appealed against the decision to grant Yee asylum, so he was held at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) center during the appeal process. Amos Yee was released from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in downtown Chicago on 26 Sept 2017 following an immigration appeals court's decision to uphold his bid for asylum. Verdict The court found Yee guilty and convicted him of both charges on May 12, 2015. With regards to the obscenity charge, judge Jasvender Kaur said that "standards of obscenity will change from time to time", and differ among countries, and that "it was up to the courts to decide based on community standards." Kaur said that Yee's remarks were "clearly derogatory and offensive to Christians". Yee's bail was reduced to $10,000, and his parents paid the bail. The prohibition for him to post online was lifted. Yee was required to remove the offensive YouTube video and the blog post in question; it is not an offence, however, for other people to re-post Yee's videos or blog post. Yee complied, but 9 days later, on May 21, Yee made public both the blog post and video again. Yee was greeted by "around a dozen onlookers who waited to welcome him and give him advice." To reporters, Yee said that he "did not know if he should celebrate his release or mourn his sentence." Yee was given a red packet containing a $100 note by retired artist Koh Ban Jee, who said "he wanted to encourage Yee to go back to school and go to university." A day before the verdict, dozens showed up for a candlelight vigil at Hong Lim Park to support Yee. During the court hearing, Yee, who faced a fine and up to three years jail, had requested to be jailed instead of going for probation after being sentenced guilty by Kaur. The prosecution requested that Yee be given counseling and probation. The court adjourned sentencing pending a probation report for Yee. The verdict attracted international attention. International rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticised the verdict as "publicly punishing a youthful dissident who dared besmirch the image of the recently passed leader, and intimidating anyone else who might think of doing the same in the future." Phil Robertson, the Bangkok-based deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, said that "criminalizing free expression by anyone who dares mock the powers that be is a tried and true practice of the Singapore government, and Amos Yee is the latest victim." The Globe and Mail writes that Yee's case highlights why "support for Asia's atheists is hard to come". Molestation allegations On May 13, 2015, a day after being released, Yee took to Facebook alleging that he had been molested by his ex-bailor Law. Law said the allegation was "false". Yee invited the media to "catch" him at an MRT station, but he did not show up. Yee later revealed that his allegations were part of a ploy to "manipulate the press to indulge in the thoroughly exhausting experience of waiting in Pasir Panjang fruitlessly for several hours". Yee also revealed that Law "didn't really molest" him, but maintained that Law was "creepy" In response to the allegations, Law told The Online Citizen (TOC) that "he found Yee's clarification to be insincere and that it does not fully absolve him from the allegation of molest", said that he would "take legal action" for defamation if Yee does not apologise publicly and fully retract the allegation. In response to the ultimatum, Yee, who described his own actions as "horrid", wrote that he was "extremely remorseful for the turmoil" that he had caused to Law and his family. Yee also wrote that he was "currently tendering a long, and detailed public apology to Vincent and his family". He asked Law to give him "about 3 days" to finish preparing it, as he was a "slow writer". In response to Yee's apology, Law decided that he would not pursue the matter any further. After Law decided not to pursue the matter, Yee retracted his apology, revealed that he had "lied" yet again and "made fun" of Law. In a 6000-word expose, Yee detailed how Law "violated him emotionally". He also highlighted that "molest" also means "disturb" and that his accusation of Law would be accurate if one used this definition instead, and hence concluded that he was "technically molested" by Law. Yee stated that "it was stupid of people to believe that he would actually issue a sincere apology". He attributes this "inherent stupidity" to "the mindset inherent in that of religion". He then proceeded to call Law a "molester", a "mentally unsound person" and a "hypocrite". Yee also described his interactions with Law and explained how he plotted to publicly humiliate Law while he was in remand prison. When asked about Yee's latest about-turn, Law replied that he thought "it's best to leave Amos alone and not write about him." He added that he was not considering legal action. Law's son, Francis Micah Law, took to Facebook to refute Yee's claims against his father. In it, he stated that his father always "painted a positive portrayal of Amos in hopes that he would improve the public opinion of Amos." Yee's accusations against Law caused anger among social media users. Vivekanandan of Free Malaysia Today writes that Yee's Facebook post was "derisive", "acerbic", and "sarcastic". It also charged that with his Facebook post, Yee was guilty of "mocking Christianity again". Carlton Tan of Asian Correspondent expressed his sadness that Yee had gone down this road, and said that he "does not support Yee's contempt towards the fundamental dignity of other persons." Sentencing On 27 May 2015, Yee was called back to court for an urgent hearing as he refused to meet with his assigned probation officer. The prosecution argued that a jail term or a fine would have no rehabilitative effect. On June 2, Yee was remanded for three weeks and a report was made to assess whether Yee was suitable to serve reformative training, where no bail option was offered. The decision came after Yee rejected the option of probation and instead pleaded for a jail term. The prosecution has argued that Yee's re-uploading of the image and video pertaining to his charges should be taken into account as an indication of his conduct and character. 'Remand' On 23 June 2015 district judge Kaur ordered that Yee be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for two weeks in response to a report by Dr Munidasa Winslow who said that Yee may suffer from autism-spectrum disorder. The reformative training suitability report found Yee physically and mentally suitable for reformative training. Kaur reported that she was exploring other sentencing options, such as a mandatory treatment order, which would compel Yee to undergo psychiatric treatment. At the Institute for Mental Health, Yee was evaluated by psychiatrist Cai Yi Ming, who said that Yee "promised not to re-offend as he realised what he did was against the law and could disrupt social harmony". Contrary to the suspicions that Winslow had, Cai's report concluded that Yee does not suffer from any mental disorder, and would benefit from having a counsellor or mentor guide him in using the Internet. He added that Yee was "trapped in the Net" and is "unable to discern untruths in cyberspace". 'Sentence criticism' Yee's sentence was met with criticism from the United Nations Human Rights Office which called for the immediate release of Yee in line with its commitment under the UN Convention on the Rights of Child. It said that "while recognizing the Singapore authorities concern with public morality and social harmony, OHCHR is concerned that the criminal sanctions considered in this case seem disproportionate and inappropriate in terms of the international protections for freedom of expression and opinion." The group appealed to the Singapore authorities to give special considerations to Yee's juvenile status and ensure that his treatment with the best interests of the child. Yee's sentence was also met with criticism from the Humans Rights Watch. Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director said that "nothing that Amos Yee said or posted should ever have been considered criminal – much less merit incarceration." He went on the say that "the dismal state of Singapore's respect for free expression can be seen in the decision to impose the criminal justice system on outspoken 16-year-olds". In response to the mandatory psychiatric treatment that Yee is ordered to undergo, Robertson said that "The court has provided no adequate justification for Yee's further detention and has ordered forced psychiatric tests." Yee's sentence was met with opposition from within Singapore. Singaporean politician Goh Meng Seng said that even though he did not like Amos "because he's rude in the Singapore context", he felt that "he had to defend his rights." Also, an open letter expressing concerns about the way Yee was treated was signed by 77 individuals, including civil society activist Braema Mathi, playwright Alfan Sa'at and academic Cherian George, saying that Yee's prosecution has created a "negative impact on his well-being and that of his family". Meanwhile, Yee's mother apologized to Yee on her own Facebook profile with a "heartfelt apology letter", saying that she was wrong and sorry for telling Yee that he was in "the safest country". 'Hospitalization' On July 5, 2015, the night before Yee's next hearing was scheduled to be held, Yee was admitted to the Accident and Emergency department at Changi Hospital for low blood glucose levels. According to his mother, Yee had not been eating for several days, was not sleeping well and feeling depressed. Earlier, on June 12, Yee's lawyer reported that Yee had been experiencing suicidal thoughts at the prospect of reformative training. While Yee had been initially "very courteous and engaged in the process", his stint at the Institute for Mental Health had been "a shock to his system". On July 6, Yee was sentenced to four weeks in jail, one week for posting obscene materials and three weeks for wounding the religious feelings of Christian in his video calling Lee Kuan Yew a “horrible person”, with the sentences to be served consecutively. He was addressed directly by the judge Kaur who said that she hopes that Yee would "rethink long and hard his decision not to continue with formal education," before acknowledging that there are few dropout success stories. Yee was released immediately after his sentences were announced as they were backdated to June 2nd when he was in remand (Yee was in remand for 50 days). Yee appeared pale and gaunt, wore a frown on his face and kept his head bowed most of the time. In court, Deputy Public Prosecutor Hay Hung Chun said that they saw Yee's actions as "no less than a significant repudiation of his previous posturing, and it is an important acknowledgment that he has finally accepted the gravity of what he had done and that he was or is willing now to make amends by undoing it.” This was in response to Institute of Mental Health child psychiatrist Cai Yiming's report that Yee had admitted to his guilt and has “realised what he has done was against the law and could disrupt social harmony”. Upon his release, Yee began to ask for cash donations. Calling the four-week jail sentence a "dark day for freedom of expression" in Singapore. Rupert Abbott, South East Asia and the Pacific Deputy Director said that “Amos Yee is not a criminal. He should never have been charged, let alone convicted. He has been punished solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression." He added that "if there is any justice Amos Yee would be walking free from court without a conviction against his name.” Protests against treatment of Yee Yee's sentence led to protests from several activist groups. On June 27, 2015 about sixty people under the banner of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights demonstrated outside the Singapore Trade Office in Taipei. The protesters from more than 10 civil society groups under the banner of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR) held placards and chanted "Free Amos Yee" for about half an hour. On June 30, university students in Hong Kong held a protest to urge the Singapore government to release Yee. Student activist group Scholarist, which took part in the protest, published a post asserting that the actions taken against Yee "reflects the unreasonable oppression and the very limited acceptance of dynamic voices in the so-called 'modernised' society of Singapore. On July 5, a demonstration was held in Hong Kong, where protestors burnt effigies of Lee Hsien Loong and Lee Kuan Yew, to demand the release of Yee. About 50 people from various civic and political groups gathered with banners and placards near the Singapore Consulate in Admiralty district. They held banners and placards that read "Dissident is not Demented" and "Freedom of Speech should not be infringed". On 5 July in Singapore, a rally demanding Yee's release was also organized by Community Action Network, a group of individuals describing themselves as "concerned about freedom of expression in Singapore", was attended by an estimated 500 people. Appeal against conviction and sentence Yee filed an appeal against the conviction and sentence, ahead of the July 20, 2015 deadline for making an appeal. Yee's lawyer, Dodwell, said that "whether this was a crime or not still remains a question they wanted to determine in the high court". Yee's mother said that she wanted "to know for sure that what Amos has done is not criminally wrong". For the hearing at the High Court, Yee's lawyers want the appeal to be heard by a non-Christian judge. Second police investigation In December 2015, Yee was subjected to another police investigation for allegedly posting offensive material on his blog. In one of his posts on 27 November 2015, Amos uploaded a post on his personal blog which made reference to former Nominated MP Calvin Cheng and Islam. On May 13, 2016, it was reported in the Straits Times that Yee was arrested on May 11 for allegedly uttering words last November with a deliberate intent to wound religious or racial feelings and for not showing up at a police station. He was subsequently bailed. 'Sentencing' On September 29, 2016, Amos Yee was sentenced to 6 weeks' jail and fined $2000 for wounding religious feelings. The presiding judge, Ong Hian Sun, said that Yee had "deliberately elected to do harm" in a photograph and two videos he posted online that were said to have "offensive and insulting words and profane gestures to hurt the feelings of Christians and Muslims". Ong said that Yee's actions could "generate social unrest" and should not be condoned. Yee began serving his jail term on October 13, 2016. He spent 21 days at Tanah Merah Prison. His request for home detention was successful, so he served the remainder of his jail term at home. Political asylum On December 16, 2016, Amos Yee fled to the United States where he was detained at Chicago's O'Hare Airport after announcing his intention to seek political asylum. During the application, he was incarcerated in McHenry County Jail in Illinois and subsequently transferred to Dodge County Detention Facility in Wisconsin. Yee was granted asylum in the US on March 24, 2017, after the judge ruled that Yee faced persecution in Singapore for his political opinions. By leaving Singapore, Yee breached Singaporean law which mandates National service in compulsory military service for all Singaporean men. On his reasons for seeking U.S. asylum, Reuters reported that although Yee was highly critical of the U.S. government abroad, he has said that - "It is not going to the best country. This is about going to the country that most effectively promotes my political philosophy of anarchical communism and ending private property and wage labor". Amos Yee was released from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in downtown Chicago on September 26, 2017 following an immigration appeals court's decision to uphold his bid for asylum. A Board of Immigration Appeals decision upheld Chicago immigration judge Samuel Cole's March ruling that Yee had a "well-founded fear" of being persecuted upon return to Singapore. The judge said the aim of jailing Yee in Singapore at such a young age was to stifle his political speech. With asylum status, Yee will be eligible to apply for a green card in a year. Yee told reporters after his release that he can now criticize the Singaporean government without fear of imprisonment, and that while he planned to make more videos critical on the topic, he might also broaden his work to US politics since he is in the country. de:Amos_Yee Category:YouTubers Category:Male YouTubers Category:Singaporean YouTubers Category:Users that joined in 2012 Category:Chinese YouTubers Category:YouTube Vloggers